Glider-recliner (glider) chairs are generally well known in the furniture industry. The term glider is used throughout this description to describe articles of furniture that include a reclining mechanism with a glider feature. Gliders are chairs that allow the user to reciprocate back-and-forth in a gliding motion. Gliders are known in both a manual configuration (where the user releases the mechanism from closed to TV, and moves the mechanism from TV to full recline) and a motorized version (where a motor is used to move the mechanism between the various positions).
The reclining motion is achieved in glider chairs with a linkage mechanism that is coupled to the base and/or to a gliding linkage. The linkage mechanisms found in gliders in the art include a plurality of interconnected links that provide one or more mechanisms for extending a footrest, reclining the chair, and obstructing movements of the chair when in specific orientations. Typically, gliders known in the art provide three positions: an upright seated position with the footrest retracted beneath the chair (the closed position), a television viewing or TV position in which the chair back is slightly reclined but still provides a generally upright position with the footrest extended, and a full-recline position in which the chair back is reclined an additional amount farther than in the TV position but still generally inclined with respect to the seat of the chair and with the foot rest extended. For gliders, the chair is permitted to glide when the mechanism is in the closed position. The mechanism “locks” the glide mechanism to prevent gliding movement when the chair is in the TV or full-recline position.
Previous mechanisms used to lock the glide mechanism sometimes inadvertently locked the glider, when undesired, or resulted in an abrupt stop, which could be unpleasant to users. It would be desirable to provide a glider (whether manual or powered) having a locking structure that is more reliable and that more-smoothly locks the glider when desired.